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West Seattle Bridge scene: Traffic stopped, dog saved

Thanks to Mark for the photo and a heartening tale (tail?) from the West Seattle Bridge this morning: Somehow a dog turned up on the westbound bridge around 9 am. Both directions stopped, Mark says; he and others on the EB side watched as people on the WB side “chased the little thing all around the bridge deck and finally corralled it, to some applause.”

ADDED: Even if you don’t usually read comments, make an exception here – as Laura, who was involved in the rescue, tells the story of saving little runaway Bell.

I saw cars stopped behind me and saw people out and didn’t know what was going on and then saw the dog running up the shoulder of the bridge, then across the lanes and over the barrier into the west
bound lanes. I’m so happy people were able to save him. I admit I cried when I saw the dog running loose. Thanks to all that saved him.

Several years ago, a friend and I were heading back to West Seattle. I was driving her pick-up truck. We came out of the tunnel, southbound, where it connects with the viaduct, (that scary blind curve that I always feared would someday be hiding a disabled vehicle).

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Traffic was suddenly at a standstill, and I noticed several people out of their vehicles, walking, and some even running around.

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My friend spotted what they were after—a dog—-and much like in the scenario above, these folks were trying to corral the poor, scared pooch.

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I was so incredibly impressed, not only by those folks’ actions, but by the fact that we didn’t hear a single horn honk, or other signs of driver impatience, or apathy to the dog’s plight.

I was driving eastbound this morning and traffic was almost at a standstill just past the Delridge onramp. I saw a brown blur running from the far right lanes through traffic. In a split second this tiny dog about the size of a chihuahua ran all the way over to the jersey barrier, one leap, and she was across the barrier running across westbound traffic. She was running so fast and leapt up onto the far jersey barrier and stopped, looked down and saw nowhere to go. Then she turned around ON TOP of the barrier and sat down, terrified.

I got out of my car and waved all of the westbound traffic to stop. One car honked at me, probably wondering why I was jumping over the barrier. All lanes stopped as this little dog was perched on the barrier.

I knelt down in the middle of the lanes and tried to call her off the barrier. A light breeze could have sent her over the edge. Then I heard a voice calling “Bella”. The dog jumped down off the barrier, but started to run in the westbound lanes. I ran back to my car and grabbed my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and handed it to her owner, hoping to entice her. There was another man trying to corral her and between us all calling her, she ran back to her owner’s arms.

As the owner ran back to her car with her, she said her dog had jumped out of the window.

I still can’t believe this happened, and ended so well. Without Mark’s photo, I don’t think I would believe it. Thank you to all of the people that helped, and all of the cars that stopped. I am giving my own dog lots of hugs tonight.

I have a 6 lb chihuahua who loves to hang his head out the window and often acts like he wants to hang more than just his head out the window. This reminds me I must hang on to him tightly! I am soooo glad he was rescued, and there was no car accident!

whew, what a story. I learned within weeks of getting my dog NOT to have the window down enough for the dog to jump out. When Rufus was a pup he totally jumped right out the window of the truck while I was driving because he saw a squirrel. . hit the ground with a roll got up and kept running. Ever since then I dont have the window down farther than he can get his face out. too scarry! I cant imagine having your pet jump out of the car on the bridge.

Yea for Bella! Anyone with a dog who likes to hang their head out the window, or even be in the car, should concider getting a doggie seatbelt. They aren’t very expensive and can help avoid something like this.

I drive with my little dog all the time and would hate to lose her in a car accident or because she jumped out of the window. This story serves as a timely reminder that kids aren’t the only precious cargo needing to be buckled up. After two near disasters, where I had to slam on the brakes, I got a harness that can be used with a car seat belt to strap my dog in. She now knows she has to be on the floor in the back or strapped in front.

I still can’t believe this cute little dog jumped up onto the north barrier thinking that she was going to jump over it and realize that it’s a long drop down below to the lower bridge, stop her momentum, and turn around on top of a 6″ barrier, then sit on top of it. A light breeze could have blown this little dog off the bridge.
I think anyone that had seen her cross about 6 lanes of traffic, and jump two barriers would have done the same thing to save her.

I saw a similar thing on Sunday 8/12/12 on 35th somewhere a few blocks south of Alaska. Chihuahua, frozen in terror in the far right lane (southbound.) All 4 lanes were stopped while folks attempted to figure out what the dog was going to do. Not a single horn.

Glad to hear it all turned out well. Unsecured dogs are a disaster waiting to happen though. Go to any pet store and buy a harness seat belt and secure your pet. Our dog, Panda, gets so excited when she sees the harness come out. This way she can still hang her head out the window but we know she’s safe too.

A harrowing tale for sure. I teared up just reading it, almost wish I’d sat in the back-up just to witness the compassion. I keep my dogs harnessed in the car, they’ve been known to do the unexpected. If your dog already wears a harness versus a neck collar (no neck collars!), all you need is an inexpensive short lead that you can either wrap around the headrest of the seat or loop through the lap seatbelts. If you prefer to give your dog some mobility, you can choose a longer lead. Just make sure it’s not long enough for them to still jump out. I once found my beagle dangling outside the car by her harness. Fortunately we were parked at my house and I learned my lesson!

Love this. I have a tiny dog, and the other day almost had a heart attack thinking he’d jumped out the window. He was just in the back seat… But my worry was real! So glad there are people like you out there.

I am glad the dog is safe. I saw the backup while I rode to work on the bus. It was an adorable looking dog.

But really, its just not responsible to have a dog in a car in a way that it can jump out the window. Either keep the windows shut enough so there isn’t room for the dog to jump out or somehow secure the dog – or leave it at home.

Dogs are great. I love my dog. I take my dog in the car. My dog would love it if I put the windows way down. But I don’t – because he’d likely jump out.

Dogs are not smart enough to know that they’d get hurt if they jumped out a car window at something that caught their eye. On the other hand, humans are plenty smart enough to know that this could happen.

Any time traffic stops there is a risk of people getting rear ended or worse. Personally I would have stopped too, but when the dog got out it was in danger as were the people on the road trying to rescue it and the people coming upon a backup they didn’t expect.

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